Moonlight Promise
by blue88
Summary: thx for the reviews! had some trouble updating this chapt but here it is! chap 2! RxR pls
1. In a stormy night

**Author's Note**:

Ahem -clearing throat and bowing to readers-

This is my second story since I decided to try another writing style for a change. The story's atmosphere is much more different than the other one, and of course Asucaga pairing (among others that I still haven't decided yet) let me know what you think!

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**Story Note:**

The story is not relevent to GS nor GSD. It's a story on its own.**  
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The story starts when Uzumi Nalah Attha passed away, leaving the country with a missing leader. In Orb's tradition, no female has ever taken control of political power, and it was only natural for the deceased Lord's daughter to marry someone for succession.

Orb's every political movements were closely watched by EAF and ZAFT (consider Orb joining EAF or ZAFT would be disastrous for the other party), and the whole world was debating about Orb's future political standing, depending on who the princess was to marry.

Also, Cagalli who grew up under her father's protection has never been exposed to the media (coughpretend plscough) and therefore her physical appearance has been kept secret to the world's population, to the exception of few people living close to her.

Carrying her father's ideal (Orb's neutrality) strongly in mind, Cagalli Yula Attha will have to find a plan in order to prevent her country to get involved with the war between EAF and ZAFT.

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**Chapter 1**

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In the absence of sunlight, dark clouds reigned over the blue clear sky. It was still early afternoon but was already hardly differentiable from night time.

The wind that at first, was blowing gently and made the park's tree dance, was now stronger and fiercer as if torturing them and trying to break them apart.

Far away in the clouds, lightnings could be seen and with no sound, they lightened up the darkness here and there like little sparks of hope.

At the extreme side of the park, was the Attha mansion, rigidly standing like a giant made out of stone, as if symbolizing the strong will of the previous rulers it took under its protection.

From one of the few rooms that were lighten, was a lonely girl sitting by the window, busy observing the obscure scenery that was taking place on the opposite side of the glass.

"Not my day…" grinned the blond girl with amber eyes that were darkened by many troubled sleep. Slowly leaning her head onto the glass, she sighed. She really wanted to go out for a walk.

To think of it, it hasn't been her day for a while. Since her father's death, and since Orb lost their leader, she has been constantly living under political feud. Single men of all ages presented themselves at the mansion every day hoping to win her favor, but she immediately turned them down without even meeting one. "These stupid idiots" she thought.

Talking about idiot, the worse of them all was of no doubt Yuna Roman Seiran. Son of her father's friend, Unato Ema Seiran, he told the press that no better candidate than himself could match the princess' magnificent beauty.

Yah right, he has never seen her. She sighed again.

_-Tap Tap - _

The sound of the starting rain hitting the window woke her from her thoughts. "Nice, that's even better now" she sarcastically commented as she observed the water drawing patterns on the glass with emptied eyes. Somehow, she felt as if those raindrops were representing the tears she couldn't shed anymore. She was so tired.

Suddenly, a knock could be heard from the other side of the wooden door.

"Ojou-sama? It's me Mana, I'm here to prepare you for the ceremony" the maid voiced.

Right, the ceremony. She completely forgot about it. Today was the day the princess of Orb was to unveil herself to the whole world. Since her father passed away, exactly 2 weeks ago, every political figures have pressured her to walk out of the shadow to reveal her identity. With the help of Unato Ema Seiran, she finally decided to hold a ceremony. "You can't run away from it forever. Don't worry, I'm here to help you" he told her.

And she trusted him.

"Those bastard polititians…" cursed the princess as Mana entered the room.

"Oh! Ojou-sama! How sad will Lord Uzumi be if he heard that!" commented the woman as she deposed 5 sumptuous gowns onto Cagalli's bed.

Just by hearing the sound of these dresses' fabric, Cagalli could already imagine the upcoming pain she'll have to endure when she'll wear one. Despite her social status, she has never been a model to follow for a girl. She's stubborn and tomboyish like no other and obviously dresses have never been her cup of tea.

"I'll wear this one" the princess pointed at the bunch of gowns on the bed, not even looking at them.

"No no no, Ojou-sama." Replied Mana who knew the princess better than anyone. "You think I'll fall for that huh? Princess, unless you point one with extreme precision, I will have to make you try them all"

Turning to Mana to protest, Cagalli surprisingly noticed how rough time has been on this little woman in these past 2 weeks. New traits of age could be seen among others, no doubt due to all the worries that occupied her heart.

It seems that her father's death has impacted everyone.

"Fine…" Cagalli finally took a glance at the dresses… Among the red, black, blue and pink gowns laid a 5th one that caught her eyes especially. It was of a pastel green color and made of a very light fabric. The dress was very simple compared to the others yet it was the most meaningful one to her… it was the last dress her father gifted her before he suddenly passed away.

Slowly lifting it with both of her hands, Cagalli whispered slowly with eyes full of pain "I'll wear this one Mana…"

"Good! I'm sure it'll suit you perfectly! Let me help you to put it on, and then! The hair and make up!" exclaimed the maid with a faint smile. Deep in her, she knew the princess' heart was being torn apart by all these unfortunate events, and it saddened her a lot to see her little Cagalli like that.

As Mana was styling the blond girl's hair, she commented to the princess on how courageous and beautiful she was, but Cagalli lost in her thoughts, didn't seem to hear her.

The princess knew very well that soon after tonight's ceremony, she'll be forced to be engaged to someone she doesn't even know nor have feelings for. These bastards will pressure her.

She knows it.

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It was raining hard for a summer night. The road was extremely slippery and dark.

The pouring rain that was blinding the car lights of the blue haired driver, was definitely not making his life any easier.

Despite being a coordinator, Athrun still knew he could loose control of his car at any moment. Manipulation of genes sure could make them better and smarter, but it still was nothing compared to mother nature's caprices.

Athrun Zala just moved to Orb 3 days ago, and was now going home after his first day of work. Data mining and information gathering they call it. Anyways. He really didn't want to think further about it, he was way too tired.

Athrun's job ended 2 hours ago. Caught into traffic, he couldn't help but to wait for an hour until he successfully switched to a road that he thought could take him home faster.

Sure, it was a deserted one to take, but it was the longest one too.

This explains why he's still rolling in this atrocious weather at a time like this, when everyone was comfortably resting at home.

Home sweet home, a warm and peaceful place.

Damn it.

His apartment was far from being a comfy place yet. Athrun still haven't finished unpacking his boxes and the thought of doing it after such a hectic day really irritated him.

Damn Orb's unpredictable weather. If it wasn't this storm, he would have made it home long time ago.

Eyes still fixed on the road, he distinguished in the darkness, not far away, a moving shape, descending rapidly the hill from his right.

"What is it? Don't tell me there's someone out there in this weather?" he curiously asked himself as he slowed down the car in the traffic less road.

Rolling closer to the form he saw, he discerned a girl wearing only a light dress, totally soaked from head to toe, running painfully toward his ride.

A normal person would be puzzled for a while before reacting. However, Athrun didn't think twice before running out of his car, in the storm, to assist the girl who obviously needed his help.

"Are you ok?" he asked the unfortunate teenager, who fell as soon as he reached his arms for her.

The sound of the pouring rain was masking his voice, and getting no answer from the girl, he asked again, louder this time. "Are you ok miss?"

With a fatigued smile, the girl finally nodded as she slowly lifted her head to view her savior's face. "Thank…God" she whispered before fainting in his arms, giving in from fatigue.

"Miss.. Miss!" he started to panic. Without receiving any answer, he decided to save themselves from the storm, and carried the girl back to his car, in a hurry.

After laying her comfortably on the back passenger seat, he rushed for his, cursing at the same time his luck that obviously deserted him for the whole day.

Moving backwards his wet blue hair as he closed his car door, he glanced at the girl that mysteriously appeared to him in such a stormy night.

The dim light of the car revealed a pale and fragile teenager. Her wet blond fringes, stuck on her face made her look extremely vulnerable. Observing the thin and soaked dress that covered her delicate skin, Athrun couldn't help but to blush.

"Damn it, what are you looking at!" he scolded himself with a little slap as he reached for his working suit and covered her body.

Removing few bangs of blond hair from her face, he noticed that she was injured on the neck. Wondering what type of trouble she got in, he returned to his driving position and held his head with both hands.

"What a day…" he sighed.

He was so tired…

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"Where am I?" mumbled the girl, waking up from her deep sleep.

As she tried to move, every part of her body ached as if she was getting dismembered.

Slowly opening her eyes and with a blur vision, she distinguished a person's form sitting by her side, observing her.

Suddenly agitated, she tried to sit up but her current condition didn't allow her to make any abrupt movements. In great pain the girl, with her few resting energy, tried to defend herself, until a soothing hand reached her shoulder and calmed her down.

"Don't worry, everything's fine" reassured a serene voice.

With her vision slowly cleared, she saw a blue haired boy with crystal emerald eyes sitting by her side. Traces of fatigue could be clearly seen from his look.

"You're safe here, don't worry." He comforted. "How are you feeling?"

"… I'm… ok…" the girl whispered back hesitantly. "Who are you?"

"My name is Athrun Zala" A smile appeared on his face. "And you?"

The girl suddenly felt her cheeks burn at the sight of this warm and peaceful smile. The boy's sincere eyes strangely made her feel at ease, and with a soft voice she replied back to him slowly.

"Cagalli… Just call me Cagalli."

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So what you think! OOC? Reviews pls! >.


	2. On a sunny morning

Argh I had some troubles putting this chapter up! it couldn't locate the file for hours...anyways...

Thk u guys for the reviews! Hope the upcoming chapters won't disappoint you.

However, this chapter will be a lil explanation of what happened in the previous one, so it might be a bit boring, but pls bare with me! It's necessary to make the future chapters more interesting

Thank you again! RxR

Susan – yup OOC – out of character

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**Note:** _Ilatics _Dream/thoughts

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**Chapter 2**

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_After 3 hours of preparations, she was finally ready._

_Looking at her reflection, she could barely find any words to describe what she was seeing. On the other side of the glass, stood a graceful lady with her blond hair combed elegantly backwards in a fuzzy pony tail. Along with the light makeup and simple dress that she was wearing, the princess of Orb was looking natural, yet out of the ordinary._

"_Beautiful!" Mana proudly exclaimed. "I'm sure that many young men will fall in love with you!" she praised with full energy hoping to cheer up the depressed princess._

_Cagalli, appreciating her efforts, replied with a little smile and whispered to her with a fragile voice. "Thank you for everything, Mana…You're like a mother to me…"_

_The maid who until now forced a smiling face to hide her sadness, finally exploded in tears at her words. "Ojou-sama, I'm sorry I can't help you better." She embraced Cagalli tightly. "Please be happy. Lord Uzumi will be so worried if he saw you like that…"_

_Observing their reflection in the mirror, the blond princess slowly patted Mana's hand. "I'm fine, don't worry. I just need a moment by myself to think." She forced a faint smile._

_Clearing her face from any traces of tears, the maid understandingly nodded, and giving her little princess a last worried glance, she closed the room's door, before disappearing in the hallway._

"_So, this will be the Cagalli from now on… the puppet in those bastards' hand..." she whispered sadly to her image in the glass. _

_She knows that soon after the ceremony, her peaceful days would come to an end. Once they know her identity, they will add more pressure on her and will use her as a mere tool for their ultimate goal, the succession to Orb's power._

_With all the upcoming difficulties, will she be able to protect her father's ideal?_

_It'll be so hard for a 17 years old girl._

_An immense pain forming in her chest, she decided to visit one last place before making an entrance to the ceremony._

_Entering her father's dark office on the first floor, she recalled some of her childhood memories. She remembered herself playing here secretly, while her father was busy making important decisions for their country's future._

_How difficult it must have been for him to defend his ideal, she thought. _

_With watery eyes, she slowly reached for the button and turned on the light when suddenly, to her surprise, a black form appeared in front of her, pulling her into the office. _

_Thrown to the floor, Cagalli not understanding the situation, stared at the person fully dressed in black who just closed the door silently. "What do you want." She asked with a hostile voice._

_The mysterious man, who's face was hidden by a black mask did not answer, instead he moved cautiously toward her unveiling his small, silver gun, pointing in the direction of her head. _

_The princess' eyes widened. "It really isn't my day" she cursed in her head as she slowly and discretely reached for her heels. In a small attempt to escape, she threw her shoes in his face, and by a small maneuver, kicked him in the arms causing him to fire a shot in the emptiness before losing control of the gun which spinned away on the floor._

_The mysterious man was shocked to see such an agile princess. However he was much faster than her, and with few trained movements, he captured her without much difficulties._

_Forcefully lying face to the floor and arms blocked on her back, Cagalli was surprised of her abductor's ability, and deciding to scream for help, she felt a patch being forcefully placed on her mouth._

"_Good girl." The man voiced as he pulled out a knife and directed it under the girl's throat. Feeling the blade pressing against her neck, Cagalli cried out of pain, but the patch on her lips seemed to have absorbed all noises._

_She could feel her warm blood slowly flowing out from her, little by little…_

_Just when she was about to give up, she felt her aggressor being kicked off from her back. Not understanding how it happened, she slowly turned in his direction, and as she took off the patch that prevented her to talk, she cried out finally. "Mwu! Becareful!"_

_Eventually, her young bodyguard just arrived on time to save her from a possible death, and fighting the aggressor with all his soul, he yelled out to his protégée. "Cagalli! Get out from here!"_

_Horrified by such scene, she saw her bodyguard getting stabbed and crumble to the floor. The advantaged aggressor, wounded on his shoulder and armed with the knife, turned in her direction, and with this last sight, Cagalli ran toward the only opening of the room by her side. Totally panicked and despite her serious fatigue, she jumped out of the window and ran down, in the pouring rain, the hill on which the Attha mansion was toping on. _

_In the dark and slippery wood, she fell and ran among the bushes which caused numerous bruises on her legs and arms, but she did not stop._

_She ran from fear._

_She ran for freedom.

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In a bedroom full of boxes, awoke an amber eyed princess, lying on a simple yet comfortable bed. The soft light that traversed the window's blinds gently illumined parts of her delicate face, causing her to grimace. Using her still aching hand to protect her eyes from the sunlight, she slowly sat up and, reminiscing the dream she just had, she lived again the terror of that unforgettable night.

Wearing simply a man's shirt that was bigger than her size, she fixed her messy blond hair backwards, and glaring at the numerous boxes that was surrounding her, she smiled.

She was no longer at the Attha mansion and that, probably, was the reason why she was feeling relieved and living.

With her sore legs, she walked toward the window and opened the blinds which let a blow of fresh oceanic air into the now full illuminated room.

From the hill on which the apartment was situated, the landscape gave a full description of Orb's famous and magnificent port of Morgenroete, and the reflection of the sunlight onto water made the ocean sparkle like diamonds.

Admiring the beauty of the view, she stretched herself lifting her arms to the sky freeing herself from all worries and with a big smile illuminating her whole person, she directed herself out of the room…

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A navy haired boy awoke all of a sudden, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling as if he has been thunderstruck. Grabbing the alarm clock by his side, he read 8h30 AM. "Damn I'm late!"

As his emerald eyes filled up with panic, Athrun stood up in a rush from the sofa he slept on, and feeling his head spin in all directions, he wondered how many hours he spent on sleeping.

Walking through his apartment to grab his uniform, he wondered why he slept in the living room and, without any further thoughts, he rushed to the shower room to get ready for work.

Just as he opened the door, his eyes widened: in front of him stood a blond girl, horrified by his entrance. From the simple towel she wrapped around her body and her wet silky hair sticking on her delicate skin, it was obvious that she just came out of shower.

Shocked to see such a view (and at so early in the morning!), the blue haired coordinator caught himself being absorbed by the girl's prettiness, and in a vague attempt to avoid staring at her any further, he decided to look away.

Fortunate or unfortunate, his vision accidentally met hers and intrigued by the beautiful color of her eyes, and the embarrassment of the situation, Athrun felt his cheeks burn like never before.

"Ah…H..Hi…"

"…"

Paralyzed by his nerousity, he feared for the worse.

"Ah... please dun screa-"

"IIYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Panicking more than ever, the young man, in a flash, rushed out of the room in total confusion, and making sure he closed the door properly, he crumbled to the floor, back against the wall, breathing heavily.

His hands covering his head, as if he tried to hide his scarlet red face, he cursed to himself in a mumbling voice.

"Damn it! How did I forget?"

Indeed, after such an encounter how could he forget?

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"_My name is Athrun Zala" A smile appeared on his face. "And you?"_

"_Cagalli… Just call me Cagalli."_

"_Cagalli?… just like the Princess of Orb?" he teased deciding to make the atmosphere more friendly, but to his surprise, the girl seemed to be shocked and worried. "Ah… I was just kidding… you… don't like her?" He tried to appease her with a laugh.._

_Cagalli's eyes widened then followed by a smile, she nodded. "Yah, you got it right" _

_Absorbed by the girl's pure smile and her amber eyes, Athrun blushed. Scratching his head, he decided to find more about this mysterious guest…_

"_So… Cagalli. I'm not going to ask you what happened…" he pointed at the wound on her neck discretely. "But I need to know where you live, in order to take you home."_

_Cagalli's face became worried and uncomfortable again. Observing her reaction full of fear, Athrun sighed. It's obviously a girl that ran away from home. With a big effort, the blue haired coordinator tried to reason her. "Listen, no matter what, home is home, and no where is better than home."_

_The girl shook her head at his comment. "My father…" Cagalli stopped, eyes full of pain. Rethinking her words she restarted. "we have some… trouble at home…" then turning suddenly to face him, fixing her watery eyes into his, she implored. "I know this is sudden but PLEASE, can you take me in? not for long… just the time I get everything cleared… Please…" _

_Astonished by such unexpected request, Athrun didn't know what to say. With few thoughts he tried to convince her once again. "Well, I don't know how the situation with your family is, but if it's something really serious, you can try get help from Orb's family services, or government at worse."_

_Observing the girl's face saddened as if she lost all hope, his heart became tormented with pain. "No Athrun, You're not doing charity. You can't take her in." he tried to convince himself._

"_The government can't help me… no one can…"_

_Shocked, he noticed that the girl's eyes were full of pain and loneliness… just like his, not long ago…_

"_My father…" she continued, but the tears flowing out didn't let her finish._

_His heart slowly softened and telling himself that he can't ignore her wounds anyways, he sighed._

"_Fine… not for long though…"

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"Hey, I'm coming out, turn around!" Cagalli ordered from the shower room

Waking up from his thoughts, Athrun obeyed to the girl's requests and, turning himself in a direction where he won't see anything that can corrupt his mind, he sighed.

Seriously, he doesn't know if he made the right choice but at the thought of the sweet and innocent smile she gave him as he grant her permission, it wasn't a worry any longer.

At least for now…

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So what you think? Was it confusing?

I'm gonna try to add quotes into my future chapters (eg. To live, is to fight ), so if there's a specific one you like and you want to see in this fanfic, let me know!

Thanks!


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